Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Yesterday at the Boeing Museum of Flight I was taking in the WWI airplane displays when something caught my eye. On top of the radiator of this Curtis Jn-4D was an unusual radiator gauge. Looks just like the one I have on my 1928 Packard 526.
Did not have the heart to tell them it was not original, but who knows!

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  pacplane1.JPG (141.17 KB)


  pacplane2.JPG (136.42 KB)

Packard built aircraft engines.

I strongly recommend Robert Neal's "Master Motor Builders" as an excellent text on the subject.

thisdayinaviation.com/tag/packard-dr-980/

RUTH NICHOLS SETS NEW ALTITUDE RECORD

Ruth Nichols’ flight in a Lockheed monoplane powered with a 225 horsepower Packard Diesel motor to an altitude of 21,350 feet Friday had been credited to the Rye girl unofficially as a new altitude record for Diesel engines. A sealed barograph, removed from the plane, has been sent to Washington to the Bureau of Standards to determine the exact altitude figure.

Yes - Packard DID produce an entire airplane in late-1918, the LUSAC 11, powered by Packard's Liberty V-12. There's a photo of the production line at East Grand Blvd. on page 187 of the Automobile Quarterly "Packard, A History..." book. Only two completed planes were finished, with another 27 being built, when the war ended on November 11, 1918.

attached are two pictures of the lusac

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  airplane packard-lusac-11 1917.jpg (37.63 KB)